ESV Study Bible Clarification

There has been some confusion about the status of the ESV Study Bible for PocketBible/MyBible. We frequently get asked when it will be done. The answer is we don’t know, because we’re not doing the development work for it.

As you know, Laridian is the only mobile Bible software company that offers a complete publishing solution that allows the owners of Bibles and Bible reference materials to self-publish in our format, and we’re one of very few non-mobile Bible software companies to do so. When we were approached by Crossway to publish the ESV Study Bible notes, one of the options we presented to them was self-publishing using BookBuilder. This was the option they chose.

In order to save the time and effort of learning our system, Crossway is actually using a third-party to create this product. The company doing the work is one that we also use. They know our system inside and out and have tools that make it easier for them to publish books for us than it would be for Crossway to do it on their own.

The result of all this is that we aren’t in control of the schedule for this product. We hear it’s coming soon. Unfortunately not everyone at Crossway (and maybe not even everyone at Laridian) understands how this project is being done, so there’s been some confusion when customers contact them (or us) and ask about the status. So this is the official word: This is a Crossway project, not a Laridian project. We hear it will be done “soon” but don’t know the exact schedule. When it is done, we’ll post a message here on the blog and send out an email to all our customers to let them know. You’ll be able to purchase it right here at the Laridian Web site.

6 Responses

Good to know, Craig. I’d been wondering about whether or not the ESV Study notes would be available through Laridian, but figured you’d tell us when the time was right. Looking forward to the release announcement when it is ready.

I know of only two vendors with electronic versions of the ESV Study Bible so far. So, unless you have one of those two programs, you would have to start up a new Bible study program. (I have both of those programs.)

One reason I can wait is because I already have several study Bibles. In fact, I plan to review a paper copy of the ESV SB before I buy an electronic version. I want to see what it will add that I don’t already have.